


Cat #6

by followmetoyourdoom



Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, but not romantic hurt comfort, nnonononon this is all the innocence of a wonderfully supportive mother son relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 20:52:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9402443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followmetoyourdoom/pseuds/followmetoyourdoom
Summary: Jim's father leaves in the middle of the night, and there's no one left to comfort Barbara except for little 4-year old Jim.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this heartbreaking art](http://kiyoshimaru.tumblr.com/post/155920852564/little-mom)

Little Jim Lake Jr. was woken by the front door slamming. It startled him so much that he almost fell out of bed and then had to hold onto his little cat plushie, lovingly called Cat #6, for a while.

He would have gone back to sleep if not for the quiet sobbings that came from the kitchen.

Glancing nervously at his alarm clock - 10:37PM it read - four-year-old Jim decided it was worth being scolded for being out of bed, and tiptoed downstairs to investigate. He'd always been a curious little lad after all.

Clutching Cat #6 to his chest, Jim peered into the darkness to find his mother sat at the dining room table. Was she having a late night snack?

But no, she was… crying.

That wasn't right; Jim knew that that wasn't right.

"Mommy?"

Barbara jumped and looked up, startled. Her makeup was smudged and tears trembled on her lips.

Despite this she still smiled upon seeing her son.

"H-hi Jim, my beautiful boy. What-" she rubbed her nose with her arm, leaving a trail of foundation on her sleeve- "what are you doing up so late? Go back to sleep, hun."

"Hear a loud noise," Jim mumbled, "and then crying. Are you okay, Mommy?"

No. "Of course I am, hun."

Jim cocked his head, confused. "Then why are you crying?"

Exhaling shakily, Barbara patted the seat next to her. Once Jim had pushed the chair as close as possible and climbed up, she began to talk.

"Daddy has… gone away. Just- just for a bit. He'll be back," she said, more to herself.

"Did Daddy make the loud noise?"

Barbara nodded, tears welling in her eyes. She opened them wide to keep the tears at bay, for Jim's sake.

"So it's just going to be you and me, little man."

"For a bit?" Jim prompted, repeating his mother's earlier words.

She smiled sadly, "Just for a bit."

It was a week later, and there was still no sign of Jim's father.

And so Jim found himself creeping back downstairs, lured by the sound of his mother's crying once again.

This time she had one of those adult drinks.

Jim clambered up onto the chair next to her and carefully pushed the glass away. He didn't like the smell of it.

His mother, seemingly unaware of his presence, continued to cry. Her hands balled up in fists against her nose and her glasses were stained with tears from the previous evening. She hadn't bothered to clean them.

Ever so gently, Jim placed a tiny hand on top of his mother's own clenched ones and kissed her softly on the head.

"It will be okay, Mommy. Daddy will come back soon."

This only made Barbara cry even more.

Jim was appalled, had he made it worse? He hadn't meant to, he just wanted her to be happy.

Looking around frantically, Jim's eyes landed on Cat #6 that he'd brought down with him and placed on the chair as he'd climbed up.

"Here." Barbara opened her eyes to find the worn cat plushie thrust in her face. "Cat #6 always makes me feel stronger when I feel sad or alone. You can have him tonight," Jim said proudly. "And," he continued, "and if Daddy doesn't come back, I'll look after you."

At this Barbara let out a breathy, barely laugh. She relaxed her hands and cupped them around Cat #6. "We'll look after each other, hun."

Jim beamed. "Yeah, we will!"

Barbara hugged her son, so grateful James hadn't taken Jim with him. If she had lost both of them… She didn't even want to imagine.

Yawning softly, Jim snuggled into his mother's embrace. 

"Glasses," he murmured at one point.

"Hmm?"

Tiny hands reached up to take Barbara's glasses off her face. Jim then proceeded to sit up on his mother's lap and used his pajama top to clean them, his tongue sticking out in concentration.

"There!" Jim exclaimed proudly once he'd finished, offering the clean glasses back to his mother who allowed him to put them on her. Already she felt a bit better. 

Just a little bit.

They cuddled again for a little while until Barbara declared it to be bedtime, though Jim insisted on her carrying him up to bed, secretly hoping this would make her want to sleep too. 

It was only when Jim refused Cat #6, putting it back in his mother's hand, did Barbara even consider sleeping.

Almost in imitation of that first night he had found his mother, Jim patted his bed gently.

Barbara smiled, "Scooch over then." Jim happily did so and, once his mother had turned the light off and placed her glasses on the nightstand, he curled up to her. She in turn wrapped her arms around him, still holding the faded plushie in one hand and hugging her son with the other. 

It had been a while since she'd shared a bed with her son - usually it had been for his sake; nightmares more often than not. 

Squeezing her eyes shut, Barbara buried her face in Jim's hair, trying not to think about how similar it was to James'. Luckily, the lack of glasses and light meant she couldn't see much.

Either way, she struggled to keep her nightmares away. Though, to her surprise, she managed to sleep. Only a measly three hours, but still it was three hours more than what she was used to.

So the years went on, never a single word or sign heard from James Lake Sr. Jim gradually learnt how to do more and more things around the house in order to look after his mother, and made sure that she was happy, or comforted her when she couldn't. Both Jim did with grace and out of love.

And together, they managed. Together, they were strong. 

Together, they survived. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Cat #6 is a reference to the book


End file.
